Theatre company says it faced hateful complaints from neighbouring businesses

A theatre company in Lethbridge, Alta. says it was forced to close its doors after “ignorant and homophobic” complaints from nearby tenants.

Theatre Outré is a queer-inclusive, non-profit company whose performances explore the boundaries of gender, sexuality and societal expectations. According to a post on the theatre’s website on Wednesday, the company had recently moved to a new location, dubbed Bordello, in Lethbridge’s McFarland Building.

The company’s mission is to “entertain, enlighten, challenge and provoke,” but despite the new theatre not even being open yet, neighbouring businesses are apparently so provoked they want the company out. In the last few days, according to the post, two other tenants in the building have sent emails to the landlord “questioning our integrity based on moral grounds and challenging our co-existing alongside their businesses.”

The post names two tenants — an insurance broken and a music teacher — who they say started a petition to get the company out of the building. Canada.com has reached out to both and will update this article when they reply.

If that wasn’t enough, Theatre Outré said an anonymous call was placed to the office of Lethbridge’s mayor, Chris Spearman, complaining about the venue. According to the company, that call led to the city reviewing the company’s website and the process to license the venue has been roadblocked. They’re now being threatened with the label of “adult theatre.”

“A year of being legitimized and celebrated as artists across Canada and internationally in cities including Calgary, Halifax, Lethbridge and Dublin has now been reduced to an adult theatre unworthy of operating without special permission because of one phone call to the mayor,” the company wrote.

Mayor Spearman denied on Twitter that complaints had been made to his office. “The issue has not been brought to #lethcc. There was no call to the mayor’s office. I have seen no derogatory emails,” he wrote.

@anneliesvanoers The issue has not been brought to #lethcc. There was no call to the mayor's office. I have seen no derogatory emails.

When asked for comment, the city replied with a statement saying Theatre Outré has yet to apply for a permit application to operate a theatre. According to the city, a theatre representative approached staff on Monday and were told they would need a development permit to operate.

The theatre representative was advised that, as per standard process, the application would be referred to the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) for approval. The representative was also advised that their application would need to be filed by Jan. 29 in order for the MPC to render a decision at its next meeting on Feb. 11, 2014. Alternatively, the next MPC meeting would be Feb. 25. These deadlines take into account timelines to be able to advertise to the community.

To this point, a development permit application has not been filed with Development Services.

City councillor Jeff Carlson told Fast Forward Weekly the theatre’s problems stem from permit issues, not the content of their shows.

“We’ve had productions of Hair and Oh! Calcutta! where there’s nudity on stage and we didn’t make our local theatre companies classify themselves as adult theatre, so no, I don’t think that definition applies at all,” he told the paper.

Theatre Outré has not yet responded to a request for comment from Canada.com.